


The Fortress

by Greenlady



Series: Echo Valley [2]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-19
Updated: 2010-12-27
Packaged: 2017-10-12 00:35:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/118868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greenlady/pseuds/Greenlady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clark Kent tries to escape Jor-El's trap.  This is a COMPLETED WIP.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**********************

It is the same in love as in war; a fortress that parleys is half taken --  
Marguerite de Valois  
***********************

My name is Kal-El, and I call myself Clark, but everyone knows me as Superman....

Um... that sounds a bit like a line from a Beatles song... Rocky Raccoon? Yes! That's it. Well, I always liked the Beatles, so let's leave it. Okay... I'm recording this memoir, to clear up a few mysteries about my life, and I'm storing it here in the Fortress of Solitude, where few eyes will ever see it -- or, rather, few ears will ever hear it. But maybe some day, if I'm not indeed immortal, an archaeologist of the future will find it, and listen to it, and the truth will be known.

People think they know the truth, and they do know some of the truth, but not the whole truth and nothing but the truth. There are rumours and lies about me, that I've allowed to stand, because it was convenient, and because it was no one's business but my own. Or, our business, rather. Mine and Lex's.

Ah, yes. Lex Luthor. The Man Who Shaped the Twenty-First Century -- especially here in Canada -- but that means little to me. To me, he's the man who made a home for me, like no other. The man who truly built this Fortress of Solitude, and manned the ramparts. The man who.... but I'm getting ahead of myself, here. Lex would say that's because I can fly faster than the speed of light, but my brain doesn't quite catch up. I say that's why I need him, to help me catch up.

I come from the planet Krypton, as all the world knows. But it was a long, long journey, that didn't end when my little spaceship landed in the woods on Thetis Island. Lex was there, that day, and we met, and I recognized the other half of my soul, and the real reason for my journey. Ah, yes, again. There you have it. The first true revelation in this memoir. Lex and I met the first day I came to Earth. We were both children, caught in a web of machinations created by our elders, people supposedly wiser than we were. And yet it was all for the best after all.

Martha and Jonathan Kent were driving home from the Mainland that day, because Mom had been to visit a doctor. The meteors landed, and I escaped from the spaceship, to be found by the Kents. Lex was injured. His father, Lionel Luthor, begged a ride to the ferry, since his own car had been damaged by a meteor. My parents obliged.

I remember the next moment, like it was yesterday. Lex was suffering, and I could feel his pain as if it were my own. I reached out, and touched his face, and something passed between us -- a bond, a joining. I was like a chick who had just broken out of the egg, and was wildly forming family relationships with those around me. Mother. Father. Sibling? Perhaps. But it was always something more than that. A bond of the soul, of the mind, and of the body, too. But for a long time Lex forgot that bond, and forgot me. He was taken away, out of the country, by his father, and he forgot me.

But again, I'm getting ahead of myself. The thing is, I'm not really a good writer. Yes, I'm a journalist, and I can write up a report about some political backroom deal, and so on. But when it comes to writing about deep feelings, well... Lex is the poet. There is poetry in his eyes, in his voice, in the way he moves....

Uh... enough of that, or I'll never tell this story. The thing to do is to separate the writer from myself, and my feelings, and try to report this as if it happened to someone else.

I remember finding my new mother and father -- Martha and Jonathan Kent. They took me home with them, and raised me as their son. I loved them, but I needed Lex, and I kept asking for him. They promised me we would go to visit him, but when we went to his house, we were told he was in hospital, far away in Victoria. Well, Victoria seemed like the other side of the galaxy to me, but then, when I thought about Lex, and knew where he was, suddenly I was there with him. Certainly I was there with him in mind and spirit, but it seemed to me I was there in body, too, though the Kents tell me I didn't disappear and reappear.

I used to visit Lex quite frequently, and we talked about many things. Shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings. I think I was the Walrus and Lex was the Carpenter. And then one day, Lex was gone. I remember the next few years as full of loneliness. Thetis Island has a small population, and we lived in a rather isolated part of it. But gradually I began to learn about human civilization and to make a few friends. Over the years, I suppose it must have seemed to my parents that I'd forgotten all about Lex. But I hadn't.

I knew, deep in my soul, that either he would return to me, or I would find him. And, as it turned out, it was the former.

I'd been searching for the ship that brought me to Earth, because I sensed its presence, hovering on the edge of my consciousness, calling to me. I remembered that one night, Lex had told me we would look for the ship together, and I wanted to show that this was important to me, that I'd never forgotten his words. I wanted to figure out where the ship was, and then, when he returned, we'd go there and discover it together. I'd been diving, deep below the waters of the river, following some clues I'd unearthed about the changes in the topography of Thetis Island after the meteors came. Then I heard someone shouting, and making a great racket in the water over my head, so I surfaced, and it was Lex. At first, I didn't recognize him, which must seem odd, but the image of him that I had in my mind's eye was so different. I'd heard nothing about his arrival on Thetis, and so wasn't expecting him.

And... well, Lex is right, when he says I probably expected him to look the same as he did when I saw him last, years before. Um...That noise in the background? Lex is crowing now, because I admitted he was right, which is silly of him, because I often admit he's right. Well, maybe not often enough, not to him, anyway. But then Lex is so impressive, so commanding, that it's dangerous to let him know how often he's right. I think how fortunate we are, to be on the same side, and to love each other, instead of being enemies....

Ahem. Took a break there, for a while. But I'm back now. Where was I? Oh, yes. Our first meeting after years apart.

As I was saying, at first I didn't recognize Lex, and he didn't remember me. But, after a few days, I convinced him we were meant to be lovers, and we've been together ever since. And yes, that is leaving a lot of the story out, but Lex is writing his own memoirs, and he's much better at it than I am. But there are things only I can tell.

I remember the first time I touched him, the first time I kissed him, the first time we made love. All those memories are burnt into my mind, and my heart, and my soul, and will never leave me. He is still as beautiful as that day we met at the river.

I also remember the night that things began to go wrong. And that's not so happy a story, but it's a necessary one to tell, and happy things did come of it, at last.

We'd travelled over to the Mainland, to see the Christmas lights at the Van Dusen Gardens, and there we met a man, a mutant, named Davis. This man followed us home, and kidnapped Lex. I'll never forget how frightened and guilty I felt then, because I'd quarrelled with Lex. He'd hired a stranger, a prostitute, right off the street, to be his bodyguard, and I didn't understand why he'd done this. I didn't understand why he trusted a total stranger so easily, and yet he still hadn't committed to trusting me completely, though we were lovers. Well, I was young, and it took a while for me to understand Lex, and that this was his way. It was much easier for him to trust people he didn't know, than for him to trust people he loved. People he loved had always hurt him, or had been the cause of pain in his life -- his mother, his brother, his lovers and friends. And so, the closer I got to him, the more he feared me, I think. Or, the more he needed me to prove I was trustworthy.

But, on this night I still didn't understand him, and so we had a fight, and I stomped off to cool down. I wasn't there when Davis burst in, and flew off with Lex tucked under one enormous arm. I searched and searched for Lex, without luck, but then Davis turned up and confessed his crime. Yeah, that's what I said. The man who kidnapped my lover showed up at the door, confessed to his crime, begged for forgiveness and offered to help. What could I do? I wanted to beat the crap out of him, but ended up working with him, instead.

We found Lex... and that wasn't pretty. It seemed that my Mother... er, Father Ship had been trying to create a nice, warm haven for me here on Earth, to take over and run like a conquered planet. The ship wanted me to breed with as many human females as possible, to create a half-human/half-kryptonian race of fellow conquerors. In lieu of that, they had turned Lex into a woman, and forced him to give birth to our son.

This was a terrible time for Lex, and for me. Our son, Connor, is a treasure and we love him. But this experience almost destroyed our relationship, because even though it had not been me who abused him, it was someone with my face. And then, just when I was convincing Lex to give us another chance, the ship struck again. It sent its own version of Kal-El after Lex once more. Lex insisted we take the battle to the enemy, and we went once more to the caves. Lex told the ship to destroy the fake Clark, but the ship attacked me instead.

It froze me and hung me upon the cave wall, and chased Lex from the caves. And there I was, hanging like a bass-relief, utterly useless.

Time crawled by, while I worried about the horrors the ship might be inflicting on the people I loved. I couldn't speak or move a muscle, only think about the danger Lex and Connor and the rest of my family might be in from the fake Clark.

Then something happened. Something, some thought or power or hope, passed from Lex to me, and I could move, just a little. I twitched my finger and touched his glove that I kept safely in my pocket. And hope revived. I knew I had to try something, anything to help him. And so I began to think at the Father Ship. That's the only way I can describe it. I began to think at it, demanding that it discuss the situation with me. And eventually, I found myself in a cold, white room, facing a ghostly figure, dressed all in white -- my father, Jor-El. He introduced himself, and demanded to know why I was arguing with him.

'The situation,' he said. 'Is all wrong. You should not have been living here, with that man. That man is supposed to be your enemy.'

'You mean Lex? My enemy? Never my enemy.'

'Yes. That is what Lex Luthor is supposed to be. Your enemy.'

'Too bad,' I replied.

'I'm fixing it,' he said. 'I'm fixing it, as we speak.'

'What do you mean?' Chills ran down my spine.

'I am rewriting history,' said my father. 'I can do that, you know.'

'No. I didn't know.'

'I'm re-making history, the way it should have been. Take a look.'

A huge screen lit up, and I was watching myself, learning for the first time that I was an alien -- at fifteen. At fifteen, my parents told me I was from another planet.

'Didn't they wait a bit late to tell me that?' I asked. 'Why do you think it's better this way?

'You'll see,' said my father. 'Just keep watching.'

I watched, as Lionel Luthor sent my Lex to take over running a manure factory in.... 'Wait a minute. A manure factory? In Echo Valley? What the hell?'

'It's not Echo Valley any longer. Lionel Luthor owns it, and called it Luthorville. And you see? Lex is under his thumb, and well on his way to being evil, and your enemy.'

'No. Lex is not evil, and he never will be.'

'He was born to be evil. It's in his soul.'

'No.'

'He will betray you, and you will recognize him as your enemy, and grow strong so you can fight him. Then you will realize your potential, and how weak humans are, and that loving them is wrong, and you will fulfil your destiny to rule Earth with strength.'

'No. No. No. And that...that child is not me. My parents never let me whine like that. You are just playing games, and that isn't real.'

'It is a copy I made for my purpose,' said Jor-El. 'I agree it isn't you, but in the end, you will replace him. You will take your place in this new world I'm creating, and you will fulfil your destiny. Stop denying it.'

'I will not rule the world,' I said. 'And Lex will not turn evil, and he will never be my enemy.'

Jor-El stared at me, his face cold and forbidding. 'These things will happen,' he replied. 'I have created the right conditions, and all will happen as I have foretold.'

'Do you want to bet?' I asked.

'Bet?'

'Bet. Wager. I will wager my future that no matter how you have set things up, Lex will never betray me... Listen, this is my wager. If Lex betrays me to my enemies, I will take my place beside you, and learn from you. But if I... if that Clark betrays Lex to his enemies, you will admit you were wrong, and you will put everything back where it belongs. You will re-create the world as it was. Is it a deal?'

'Lex will betray you,' said Jor-El. 'You will lose. Why not just admit it now?'

'I am putting my money -- my future, rather -- on Lex. He will not fail me.'

'You're betting against yourself? Why?'

I leaned forward, and held Jor-El's eyes with my own. 'I love Lex more than myself,' I said. 'And I trust him more. I know myself. I know what a selfish, self-righteous little pig I am inside. My parents raised me to think of others first, however. But these people you've put in their place? They've raised that Clark to put himself first.'

'I don't believe you,' said Jor-El. 'It's Lex who is the selfish one. A spoiled, rich brat. He'll sell you out for power or money, without a moment's thought.'

'Then you accept the wager?' I demanded.

'Yes,' said Jor-El. 'It is done.'

'Then let the games begin,' I said. 'But no cheating. No changing the conditions from now on. You've set everything up. Now let it all happen as it will.'

'Agreed,' said Jor-El. 'And see? There you are, standing on the bridge, looking over the river. And here he comes. See? Speeding as usual.'

'Not that fast,' I said. I watch the scene. A truck going by on the road. A spiral of fencing wire falling off the truck. Lex's car spinning out of control, hitting "me", taking us both into the river.

'See?' said Jor-El. 'You save his life, and all so he can betray you.'

I watch as the fake Clark rescues Lex from drowning. I wait for Lex's response.

'I could have sworn I hit you,' says Lex.

I wait for "my" response. I don't expect that I will tell him the truth right off, but there are possible replies that don't include outright lying. Such as... I'm not sure what happened? ... I'm fine. Let's figure out what happened later? ... I'm stronger than I look? ... I wait for the other Clark to answer my Lex....

'If you'd hit me, we'd both be dead,' he replies.

Coward.

*************************

'Aren't you being a bit unfair to yourself?' said Jor-El.

'Am I? I don't think so. Myself just lied to my best friend.' I decided to avoid mentioning that Lex was my lover, since it upset Jor-El, and I didn't want to set him off. God knows what he'd do, if he lost whatever little sanity he still possessed.

'He's not your best friend yet. You just met, and you're young and confused....'

'And that makes it right that I lied? That he lied, I mean?'

'It makes it understandable.'

'Yes, it does, but understandable doesn't equal right. He's young, but he's not a child. He knows the difference between the truth and a lie. He could have avoided the question, and then come up with a good story later, that didn't deny Lex's experience. A story that didn't question Lex's intelligence or understanding. Instead....'

'He is young, and confused.'

'And he just learnt he's an alien, yes. So Lex has to suffer. That's why you set things up this way, isn't it? That's what you meant about it being better this way. Better that Lex be blamed for everything that goes wrong in my life? Better that I turn him into a scapegoat for all my pain? You call that better? Maybe it is, if you want to turn me into a bully and a tyrant who takes over the world and rules it with strength.'

'I don't want you to be a tyrant,' said Jor-El. 'I want you to be a great hero, whom the people of Earth look up to and respect, and you can rule them without seeming to rule. The people will obey you because they look up to you as a kind of god.'

'And no one will know what lies beneath. No one will know how I treated my friends.'

'No one will care,' said Jor-El. 'All that matters is what shows on the surface. But you need to learn a few things, first. You need to learn that you are superior to these human beings. You need to learn that these human beings have no right to question you, or your powers or your decisions. You need to learn how to make difficult decisions and how to cut people loose when they get in your way, or question you too sharply. You need to learn....'

My dad would have made a great politician, or a great spin-doctor for politicians. My kryptonian dad, anyway, not my human dad. I tuned my kryptonian dad out, as he went on and on about the things I had to learn, and I watched with horror as my human dad spurned Lex's hand, and raked him over the coals for what was an accident. My human dad could be a grouch, but not this rude. Never this rude.

I studied Lex's face, to see how he was taking it. I hadn't really looked at him before, being so engrossed in watching my younger self. Now I realized that Lex was younger too, of course. He was about 21, or so. Jor-El told me he hadn't broken away from the influence of his father, and was here on Lionel Luthor's orders.

This Lex was younger, less distant and self-contained. Knowing the older Lex as I did, I could see that this Lex was hiding a painful lack of confidence under a cool, practised exterior. As he held out his hand to my father, and was rejected, his eyes filled with pain, but he quickly recovered, and laughed a little. All my sympathy was for Lex, here, and I realized something -- this Lex was closer to my remembered childhood friend, and I loved him, fiercely. All I wanted to do was to take the other Clark's place, and comfort my lover, but I was helpless, frozen on a cave wall. It was ludicrous.

'I'm tired,' I said. 'I have to stop watching, for now.'

'Since when do you get tired?' asked Jor-El.

'It's actually very tiring being frozen and hung on a wall,' I explained. 'You should try it some time. I'm going to take a nap.'

Jor-El seemed to shrug and dismiss me. The cold white room disappeared and I was back to staring into the emptiness of my own mind. Poor Lex, I kept thinking. He had looked at that other Clark with such hope and trust, believing he had found a friend to believe in. Perhaps he had a faint memory of our first meeting, all those years ago. Yes! That was it. In this world, it was Lex who remembered our meeting, and I was the one who had forgotten. In this world, it was Lex who loved more. That was sad, but for my purposes, it was the better scenario. In this world, it was Lex who was more likely to keep faith, as I had told Jor-El.

I moved my fingers again, just a little, stroking Lex's glove. My Lex wouldn't betray a friend, either, but he'd be more likely to just cut his losses and take off for greener pastures. My Lex would never give me the adoring looks he was giving the other Clark. My Lex would never put up with the treatment he was getting from the people of Echo Valley. My Lex was a lot more cynical than Jor-El's version.... but no, they were the same man, merely altered a little by circumstances. Deep inside, my Lex was the same trusting, caring person, and I must remember that when we met again. My job, I thought, would be to bring that person out, and set him free.

I thought about that day, the day Lex and I would meet, after all this was over, and the world was back together. We would meet, look into each other's eyes, and kiss. Lex would be angry, for a while, but he'd forgive me, and we'd kiss again. I thought of those kisses, and stroked Lex's glove, and then, the stark, empty cave vanished, and I was somewhere warm... no, hot. It was night, and I was in some sort of tent, and the air was full of sand and grit.

I moved, looking around the tent, hoping to see something to give me a clue where I was. A voice, out of the dark. 'Who is there? I warn you, I'm armed.'

'Lex?' I turned, and there was Lex, sitting up in his camp bed.

'Who is there?' Coldly angry. Venomous, even.

'Lex? It's me.' Lex couldn't see in the dark as well as I could, but he was a good shot, even in the darkest night. 'Don't shoot, it's me. Clark.'

'Clark? How did you get here? Did you escape from the cave after all?'

'No. I think this is the same as when we were boys, remember? I used to be able to visit you, if I thought about you hard enough. I was thinking about you, and... and here I am. Lex?'

Lex put the gun down on his bedside table, and held out his arms.

 

'I don't like him.'

'You don't like whom?'

'Him,' I said, stubbornly.

'Him whom?' Lex could be equally stubborn, at least.

I sat up, looked down at my beloved, frowned, and said, 'You're going to make me say it, aren't you? Just to make a point.'

'No,' said Lex. 'I'm being a pain in the ass. I won't make you say it.'

I sighed, and flopped back down on the bed. 'I don't like my younger self.'

'Of course not. Who ever does? We all look back on our younger selves with various degrees of pity, censure and outright loathing. He's younger. He'll grow up.'

'No. He'll grow older, that's all. It's not the same thing.'

'Yes, Grandfather.'

'Listen Lex. I know myself. I'm not influenced by whatever... emotions, whatever feelings other people might have for me. I know all my own inner weaknesses, how I think and feel about other people, what I want out of life – everything. I've learned to control my feelings. This one hasn't. He's spoiled.'

'He's younger, that's all. He's a typical teenager.'

'Lex, I'm not a typical anything, so he's not a typical anything. I can see through walls, take bullets to the chest and only suffer a bruise. I can outrun a train. I can almost fly, now. How typical is that?'

'But inside, you're....'

'My parents raised me knowing what I was. At every stage of the game, they warned me not to believe my powers gave me the right to trample other people underfoot. We devised a good cover story, that told as few lies as possible, and we've stuck to it. You are the only person I've ever told the complete truth, but I've never hurt anyone with my lies. At least, I hope not. What difference does it make to Chloe if I say I'm a mutant, or say I'm an alien? But him? He just learned what he is, and he's lying like a cheap rug, and I understand why, but ... I can see the writing on the wall. He'll never change.'

'You don't know....'

'Yes, I do.'

'You're a good person...'

'No, I'm not.'

'Will you let me finish my sentences, Clark?'

'Why should I? I know what you're going to say. I'm a good person, so he must be good too. You're wrong. I'm not a good person. I'm like everyone else, a mixture of good and bad. I like to think I'm in control of the bad. I'm not so sure about him... no, that's not right. I am sure about him. He'll betray you – the other Lex, I mean. And I'll win the bet, so it's all good, but I want you to know what I'm capable of, that's why I told you all this.'

'Then, you are capable of betraying me? Is that good, in your opinion?

'No!' I sat up, bent over Lex, gazed down into his eyes. 'No. I'm not capable of betraying you. I never will. But I remember, you see. I remember you, that day of the meteors. He doesn't know who you are. And he never will know.'

'Who am I, in this brave new world?' asked Lex.

'You're younger. More... trusting, with me. It's hurts me to see it.'

'Do you like him?' asked Lex.

'I love him.'

'Should I be jealous?'

'Don't be ridiculous,' I said. And then we both stopped talking for the rest of the night.

 

***TBC***


	2. Chapter 2

**************************

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, I was back in the cave, and Lex was not in my arms, warm and sweet. It was not a pleasant awakening. Normally, I don’t feel the cold, but I felt Lex’s absence as a physical pain, like a missing limb.

Time in the cave had sped by, it seemed. I joined my father in the control tower, to watch his little experiment in human/kryptonian relations.

‘Your little friend is too curious,’ said Jor-El.

‘How do you define “too curious”?’ I asked.

‘He’s curious about you.’

‘Why shouldn’t he be? Is that a crime? Aren’t people curious about their friends? I am.’

‘He’s investigating the accident at the bridge. He’s getting close to the truth.’

‘Call the police. Someone is getting close to the truth.’

‘Don’t you fear that? Don’t you fear that someone will figure out you’re not human? Don’t you realize what might happen if they do?’

‘Yes. I think about it. I know that some people might over-react and fear me. That’s not their fault. And the more I lie, the more I insist on my own, safe version of events, the worse it gets. That’s his problem. Watch him. He thinks no one else has fears. No one else has secrets. Or, at least no one else is entitled to their fears or there secrets. His own problems trump everything. Watch him with Lex. He’s all Me, Me, Me.’

‘He saves Lex’s life, several times.’

‘Yes, and then he thinks Lex owes him. Lex should help him with his problems, do whatever he asks, and shut up. Who died and made him God?’

‘In a sense, you did,’ said Jor-El. ‘I decided I liked this Kal-El better.’

‘Why? Because he’s more kryptonian? If so, I hope to never meet more of my kind.’

‘You are too sympathetic to these humans – especially this human. He thinks too much. He thinks too much of himself. He’s dangerous.’

‘No,’ I said. ‘You are dangerous.’

‘You should turn yourself off again,’ said Jor-El. ‘I tire of your eternal criticisms and arguments.’

I was tired of Jor-El’s criticisms and arguments. I wondered, with a feeling of horror, if the problem with me and my ‘father’ was that we were too much alike. But I couldn’t think too much about that at the moment, for on the screen Lionel Luthor was poisoning Lex. The drugs were making him act crazy, and the next thing I knew, Lionel had him imprisoned in Belle Reve and was ordering heavy doses of Electrotherapy. And – this was the horrible part – no one seemed to care, except for my counterpart, who was investigating the matter, but otherwise doing nothing, though he could have helped Lex escape at any time.

‘He cares about Lex Luthor,’ Jor-El pointed out.

‘Not enough,’ I responded. ‘He’s too afraid to take the final step and break him out.’

‘He should be afraid. Such an action could lead to his exposure as an alien.’

‘He uses his powers in public all the time. Why is it so dangerous now?’

‘Look! He’s going to rescue his friend. Do you see? He is the faithful one. And now Lex Luthor will betray him.’

‘No. He’s too late. Lex’s memories have been wiped.’

‘Well, he’s cured of his insanity, isn’t he? And he’s forgotten Lionel’s crimes and your identity, so all is well.’

‘All is well, except that this Clark is a coward.’

‘You are being too hard on him.’

‘No,’ I said. ‘I’m not, for look what he’s doing now. There! I knew this would happen. I warned you.’

I watched with growing horror as Lex used an experimental technique to regain his lost memories – and the other Clark went to Lionel Luthor to tell him of this. Lionel! The man who had killed his own parents for their insurance money. The man who had just poisoned his own son and tortured him for weeks in an insane asylum. The man who should be locked up in prison for life, but was free to stop Lex from regaining his own memories. The other Clark trusted him enough to betray his own friend to him, thus endangering his life once more.

‘Lionel will stop him,’ said Jor-El. ‘He will be in no danger as long as he doesn’t learn the truth. And you will be safe. What’s the problem?’

‘The problem is that he just betrayed Lex. I have won the bet.’

‘I don’t consider that a betrayal,’ said Jor-El. ‘He meant well.’

‘I consider it a betrayal. He betrayed his friend to his mortal enemy. The bet is won. Do as you swore to do, and stop this experiment now. Return the world to the rightful timeline.’

‘No,’ said Jor-El. ‘The experiment will continue, and Lex Luthor will betray Clark Kent. You should now turn yourself off, as I ordered. I have had enough.

So have I, I thought. The bet has been won, but Jor-El had broken his word, so I was no longer bound by the agreement. I was going to interfere, in the only way I knew how.

  
******************

Time had advanced in the outside world, as well as inside the cave. The world according to Jor-El was spreading, taking it’s own brand of chaos with it. My spirit could sense this as soon as it broke free of the cave and joined Lex’s spirit.

Lex was in Paris. His apartment overlooked the Seine. He was sitting in a chair by the window, watching the moonlight on the river. He looked up and saw me, and for a moment his face lightened, before it turned dark with anger. But only for a moment.

‘Where have you been?’ he whispered. ‘What have you been doing? That monstrous machine....’  
‘I know,’ I said. ‘I know. But the AI has me under his control, and though it can’t control the entire world yet, it’s working on it. And it has no ethics. It broke its word to me. That abomination... that other Clark. He betrayed you, as I knew he would, and the AI defended him.’

‘That’s no matter,’ said Lex.

‘Yes. Yes it does matter. That monstrous machine, as you call it, can alter time, create new versions of reality. It’s planning on replacing this world with it’s own version. I told you that. If we let it, we will cease to exist. Our love will never be. That other Clark will be your enemy. He’ll hate you and betray you until the end of time. We must stop him.’

‘I’ve been trying to do so,’ said Lex. ‘I’ve found all the crystals spoken of in the legends passed down through my family. But now, how do I use them? The AI controls its own reality, as you point out. Its control is growing. How do I get close enough to take back control?’

‘You can’t,’ I admitted to Lex. ‘But he can.’

‘He?’

‘Lex. The other Lex. The AI is giving him free rein, because he’s waiting for him to betray the other Clark. He wants to crow over me when it happens. Then, of course, he will let loose the dogs of war, and we will be finished. But, in the meantime, all his attention is focused on watching you – Lex Luthor – becoming evil. He sees nothing else.’

‘Yes? So?’

‘Take the crystals as close to the Alternate Universe as you can get. Your penthouse in Vancouver will do. Put them in the safe. I will tell your counterpart where to find them.’

‘You are asking an awful lot of me. You do know that, don’t you? To give up control of the only weapon we have against the AI? How do you expect to contact this other Lex Luthor, anyway?’

‘I can visit you in spirit. Why not him? And no, I haven’t tried yet, but I must. We don’t have much time, Lex. The other Clark has made friends with your father.’ I hadn’t wanted to tell Lex that, but I could see that I had to convince him of the seriousness of the matter.

‘Friends? With my father? Does he know what my father even is?’

‘Yes,’ I admitted. ‘He knows all about Lionel’s sins and crimes, but he’s forgiven him. He hasn’t forgiven you, though, for having pictures of him in a locked room.’ That little detail had amused me, to be honest. What a drama queen my counterpart was. So much self-righteous anger over a few pictures and spent bullets. ‘Listen. Lex, be ready. When I see the time is right, I’ll come to you again. I must leave now, and try to talk to the other Lex. Please trust me. And trust yourself. Even your other self.’

Lex gazed at me out of those cool, appraising eyes. ’Kiss me,’ he demanded. I bent and kissed him. ‘I will trust you, because you have never lied to me. If you had ever lied to me, I would never trust you now. When you talk to him, to Lex, remind him of our invisible playmate. Not you, the horse called Chester. We... I was three years old. I imagine our earliest childhood was about the same.’

‘Chester? An invisible horse? What happened to it?’

‘What do you think happened to it?’ said Lex. ‘Dad shot it.’

 

************************

 

I did not stay with my Lex that night, because it would have been too hard to tear myself from his arms to go back to the icy cave wall. So, I let my spirit return to its body, hanging there on the wall of ice, and began to plan how to visit the Lex from the alternate world.

It should be possible, I thought. He was still Lex, though his life had broken off from our own timeline at some point. The AI had created the new timeline....

And that was when it hit me! I had the ability to travel across space – and perhaps time – in spirit form. I had never really thought about why this was the case, because in my memories, I had always been able to do so, even before my other powers kicked in. The AI -- a machine with the personality of my biological father embedded in it somewhere – had the ability to create new alternate universes, to mess with the timelines of universes. Such powers must be part of kryptonian heritage, I now realized. I had been thinking of the AI as a machine, with incredible capabilities, that had had no real origin. A computer, created by my own people, with god-like powers, that came from nowhere. But people create machines, and computers, based upon their own minds. We cannot really create anything that isn’t already in our own heads. Thus, the powers of the AI must exist inside the heads of kryptonians – of whom I am one.

Of course, the AI was still far older and far more powerful than I was at the time. I couldn’t simply break free of its control simply because I knew I had the power somewhere inside of my mind. I must develop my powers in order to defeat the AI, but in the meantime, I must survive. No, it was best to continue fighting it as an undercover agent, so to speak. But the realization I had that kryptonian heritage gave me the push I needed to experiment with its properties.

The Lex of the alternate world was still my Lex at heart. Changed by his experiences, of course. Weaker in some ways, I thought, but perhaps stronger in others? More willing to love and trust?

I realized that I was thinking of my own Lex in somewhat critical terms, and that was unfair. Lex had trusted, only moments before. Despite his words – that he would not have trusted me if I’d ever lied to him – he had, indeed trusted me, and under dangerous circumstances. My Lex was rock solid. The Lex of the alternate world was shaky, at times. He needed other people more. Perhaps too much more?

I thought of that need. Thought of him, jerking and pulsing under the power of the electrodes invading his brain. That had been horrific. How could that other Clark ever forgive Lionel Luthor and trust him and betray Lex after seeing such a thing? Had he told himself that Lex had deserved it? Had he told himself that Lionel must have had a good reason for hating his son so much?

I thought of all that pain, and all that unrequited love on Lex’s part – and then I was there, in the Castle, in the study, watching Lex sitting before the fire, a large glass of brandy in his hand.

 

Lex raised the glass slowly, and took a sip. He lowered his hand, and went on staring into the fire. I was wondering how to let him know I was in the room, and stupidly, I cleared my throat.

‘What’s your problem, Clark?’ said Lex Luthor, still without turning around. It seemed he’d known I was there all along. ‘Usually you just jump right into accusing me of something vile, without bothering to cough first. Oh, wait. I know. You want me to loan you some money, or hide a fugitive? Or help a friend of yours get into college? Which is it this time? Just to make things simpler, the ATM is closed, and your friend can get into college on her own. The fugitive is welcome to stay, though. Put him in the first bedroom on the right.’

‘Lex?’ I ventured, gently. He looked up at me, then.

I had never really looked into the eyes of Alternate Lex. I’d seen them on the ship’s viewing screen, of course, but now I was gazing into them from a short distance, with nothing between his eyes and mine. How can he, I wondered. How can he judge and rage and abandon and betray and abuse this man? I wasn’t sure if I was questioning the actions of Lionel Luthor or Clark Kent – probably both.

‘What’s wrong, Clark?’ Lex asked, before my thought was even finished. ‘Is something really wrong? If you need my help, if it’s a matter of life and death... Martha? Is she in trouble? You know I’d help you, no matter what is between us.’

I fell to my knees beside his chair, and took his hand in mine. ‘Mom is fine,’ I said. ‘I’m not here to ask your help.’

‘Then what?’ said Lex, his eyes going cold again. He snatched his hand back. ‘Don’t play with me, Clark. I’m long past putting up with your games.’

I could actually feel Lex’s pain, like a vast open wound in my own heart. My own Lex had suffered pain, of course, before his return to Echo Valley, and after, from the machinations of the AI, and the fake Clark Kent who had raped him. But this... this was a level of psychic pain that even I, in my youth and inexperience, could recognize might push someone over the edge into madness, if it continued unabated. Again, I wondered how my counterpart could even think of adding to the sadism. What sort of sadism existed inside that Clark Kent’s own heart and mind, if he couldn’t even feel guilty?

I took Lex’s hand again, and leaned my forehead against it, in a gesture of fealty. If this had been my own Lex, I could have pulled him into my arms, and comforted him, and even if he’d fought the comfort as unnecessary, he would have felt it, responded to it. But who knew how this Lex would respond? But no, I thought, as I looked up into those eyes once again. I did know. He’d probably respond by going completely and finally insane. How could I explain the crazy plot he was involved in?

‘You are not Clark Kent,’ said Lex Luthor. ‘Who are you, and what have you done with him?’

‘I... I’m the real Clark Kent,’ I replied. ‘Your father, and my father... they’re in a conspiracy, and they created a...’

‘A clone! You’re a clone!’

‘He’s a clone,’ I insisted. ‘I’m the real thing. They’ve had me imprisoned, but I escaped. Listen, Lex. It’s too dangerous for me to let them know I’m free and fighting them. You must fight them for me. I’ll help, but you’re the only one who can fight them, openly. I have some information for you. Will you trust me?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Lex. ‘I want to trust you, but I trusted you before, and you betrayed me.’

‘That wasn’t me. That was my evil clone. It sounds crazy, but it’s true.’

‘What’s crazy, Clark? I can’t tell the difference any more. I want to believe you. I want to believe you would never have lied to me of your own volition. I want to believe that, and so I will. Now, tell me everything, because I know you’re holding things back, and I can’t take that any longer. Tell me the truth, and I’ll do anything to help.’

I leaned my forehead against his hand again, and drew a deep breath, and began the tale.

‘....and so,’ I finished. ‘Lex... my Lex... told me to ask you to remember Chester. Do you remember who Chester was?’

‘Yes,’ said Lex. ‘I remember.’

‘Lex... he told me it was an imaginary friend.’

‘A horse,’ said Lex. ‘He followed me everywhere.’

‘He said that your Dad....’

‘Dad shot him,’ said Lex. ‘That’s what he told me. I refused to believe him, of course, but after that... after that Chester never came back. I don’t know why.’

I turned Lex’s hand over, and kissed the palm. And then each finger, one by one.

‘Is it true?’ Lex asked, his voice sounding ragged. ‘Do you really love him? Do you really....’

‘I love him,’ I affirmed. ‘I love you. You are one and the same, and I love you.’

‘Will you... will you stay?’ His eyes looked into mine, and the edge of insanity was gone.  
‘I’ll stay,’ I said. ‘I’ll stay until the morning. I’ll do anything you want. Anything.’

‘Take off your clothes,’ he whispered. ‘I want to see you naked. I want to see, nothing between you and me. Nothing to hide behind.’

‘Go,’ I whispered back. ‘Lock the door, then turn around.’

And he did, and when he turned around, there was nothing between us, and he was in my arms and nothing separated us, until the morning.

 

******************

 

The morning came too soon, inevitable as death. Lex sat up, gazed down at me, and said, ‘You must leave. Now! It’s too dangerous for you to stay long.’

I opened my mouth to argue, but I knew it was pointless. Lex was right, as usual.

‘I’ll come back,’ I said. ‘I’ll come back as soon as possible, I promise.’

‘No. Don’t come back. It’s not that I don’t want that, for I do. I want you to come back, and stay forever. That’s why you must leave now, and never return. If I see you again, touch you again, I could never do what I must do.’’

‘We’ll be together again,’ I said, ‘We must be.’

 

But Lex said, ‘No! We must not. That is not for me. You belong to him, in your own world. I’m lucky enough to have had this one night. Clark, you have reinstated my belief that there is goodness in the world worth fighting for. But, as I understand it, I’m a perversion of reality....’

‘No! No, Lex, that’s not what I meant. That’s not what you are.’

‘It is the truth. I should never have existed. He... the other Lex... your Lex, your lover... you and your child, Connor... all of you were meant to be, to be together. Now I know why my life has always been filled with pain. Why nothing I do ever works. I try to do good, and it all goes so horribly wrong. You don’t know all the evil things I’ve done.’

‘It’s the fault of the ship. The AI,’ I told him.

‘Yes. Now I know what went wrong in my life. It wasn’t just an accident, nor is it some inner evil that destroys everything around me. It comes from that ship. But now I know what to do, thanks to you. And I won’t fail you, I promise.’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘But I wish things could be different. I love you, Lex. I love you as much as I love him, and that will never change.’

‘Thank you,’ said Lex. ‘But go now.’

I got out of bed and reached for my clothes. I was getting tired of wearing the same clothes I’d been wearing for days now. I thought that the first thing I would do when all this was over, was to have a hot shower and change my clothes. Then my hand touched something soft and leathery. It was Lex’s black glove, still in my pocket. I knelt beside the bed, and put the glove in Lex’s hand.

‘This is his glove,’ I told him. ‘I have kept it all this time, as a reminder of my mission. But now I want to give it to you, so you have something to hold onto. Something of ours. Would that offend you? Anger you? Because it belongs to him?’

‘ I’m not jealous, Clark. How could I be? I stopped hoping for a life of my own long ago. But he will live that life for me. Do you think I’m too forgiving, too saint like? Believe me, I’m not. I will live to destroy the machine that did this to me. Just watch me.’ He put the black glove on his hand, and held it out to me. I kissed it, and then the other hand, and finally his lips, that were so warm and so like my own Lex’s, and then, before I could be tempted to change my mind and stay there forever, I said goodbye, and returned to my world of ice.

 

*****************

 

I watched the Alternate Lex on the viewing screen. He looked tired and strained as I’d never seen him, but he also looked determined. He was striding into the Penthouse in Vancouver... so the chaos created by the ship had spread that far? Already? This was thrilling, in a way, for it meant that we could put our plan – such as it was – into action. But it was also scary, for the ship was gaining in power and influence, and it must be stopped.

I had another scare when Alternate Lex walked into his private office, for Lionel was there waiting for him. He had a box in his hands – the box with the crystals – and was just about to open it.

‘Put that down!’ said Lex. ‘Put it down, and step away. Now!’

‘Is that any way to talk to your loving father?’ asked Lionel Luthor.

‘As if a loving father of mine were anywhere in the room. Do you see one? I don’t. Put the box down.’ Lex reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a small handgun with his gloved hand – the hand wearing my Lex’s black leather glove.

‘Lex! What are you doing?’ Lionel turned pale and set the box down on Lex’s desk. He did indeed step back.

‘Never mind what I’m doing. You’ll find out soon enough. I know what you’ve been doing, and it stops now. Your plot will destroy the world, if it’s not stopped now. There isn’t anyone else to stop it, so here I am. Step closer to the window, and wait for me to stop it.’

‘What do you mean... Lex, put the gun down. You don’t want to do this.’

‘Yes, I do,’ said Lex. ‘It’s the only way.’ He shot out the office windows with his gun, and then ran forward suddenly, to push Lionel out the broken window. Then he ducked back into the room quickly, dropped the gun on the floor, and grabbed the box from his desk. He ran out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

A short time later, he was talking to the police, telling them that his father had been depressed lately, probably worried about money, as usual. No one appeared to question the truth of his grief, for he did look pale and shaken.

I had been watching all this in horror, but also in pain, for I knew Lex had always longed for his father’s love, and now that was forever out of reach.

‘Your little friend has turned evil,’ was Jor-El’s comment.

‘Has he?’ I asked.

‘What other explanation is there?’

‘He’s afraid of his father, because he tried to kill him? And he tortured him? And he’s plotting to take over the world? Maybe he thought this was the only way to stop him.’

‘It’s not going to stop me,’ said Jor-El. ‘I’m going to replace this chaotic little world with a better one of my own. It’s not too late for you to join us. Just give the word and you will be released and on your way to glory.’

‘No thanks,’ I said. ‘I’ll just hang around here until the end.’

‘That’s your choice,’ said Jor-El. ‘Don’t complain afterwards that I didn’t give you one.... What’s your friend up to now?’

Lex was boarding a helicopter, and ordering the pilot to head for Thetis Island. We’re on our way, I thought. It’s now or never.

 

************

 

 

On the screen Clark’s friends – Lana, Chloe and Pete – were warning him about Lex.

‘I’ve been tracking his movements,’ said Chloe. ‘We knew he was looking for the crystals from your home planet – and they belong to you. He shouldn’t touch them, but we think he has them all, now. Veritas tells me....’  
Wait! Veritas? I’d missed that development. Since when did Veritas report on Lex’s movements to Clark and his pals? Last I’d heard it was an organization dedicated to protecting the world from invading aliens. Or so my Lex had told me, anyway. I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to Veritas, being more interested in getting Lex into bed as often as possible. Perhaps my priorities had been all screwed up, as Lex kept warning me.

On the viewing screen, my clone was refusing to go after Lex to kill him. Jor-El was pointing out this proved his superiority over Lex Luthor and his qualifications for heroism. I was tired of this old argument, but I could feel that Lex was getting close to the caves, and wanted to distract Jo-El, so I protested.

‘How does refusing to murder someone make a hero?’ I asked. ‘Most people would refuse.’

‘Lex didn’t. He killed his father, to save himself. But Clark is refusing to do the same thing. That proves he’s the better man.’

‘It proves he’s not so desperately driven,’ I said, automatically. ‘He hasn’t been tortured by Lex, or mindwiped. He has no real reason to fear Lex. Lex has done very little to hurt him.’

As I watched the screen, Clark agreed to visit the caves, to consult with Jor-El. Lex should get a move on, I thought. And at that moment, the wall slid back, and Lex Luthor strode in, holding a briefcase in his black-glove-covered hand. He was doing a good job at impersonating my Lex’s insouciance, but his face was set and cold. He looked like a man on the way to his execution, intent on giving a display of courage and nobility.

I could feel Jor-El’s attention leave the screen, and turn toward the door. I was terrified for a moment that the ship might attack Lex before waiting for that final showdown it had been building up to – but no. Jor-El remained silent and watchful, as Lex strolled around the cave, studying the ship, and then stopped in front of me. I felt ridiculous, hanging on the wall like a bizarre trophy. For a moment, Lex’s face twitched, almost into a grin. ‘Clark,’ he said. ‘I came for a visit but I can see you’re all tied up. Not a problem, though. I’ll talk to your daddy here, instead.’ He crouched down before the ship, peering at it in intense curiosity. ‘Nothing to say for yourself?’ he asked, after a moment. ‘I know what you’ve been up to, and I’d like to get your perspective on it all. What motivates you? What makes you think you can show up here on our planet, and take over? I mean, really take over, and rewrite our lives?’

The ship buzzed as if to say it was just a mechanical device, but Lex snorted. ‘I’m not fooled,’ he said. ‘As I said, I know what you’ve been up to. Mind explaining why?’

Before the ship could make more useless buzzing noises or attempt to answer, it was interrupted by the arrival of my counterpart, in a great hurry, and looking frightened and upset.

‘Clark,’ Lex drawled again. ‘Another Clark. I now have two Clarks, as if one weren’t problem enough. Are you the real Clark, or have you kidnapped the real Clark and taken his place?’

‘Lex! It’s not what it looks like....’

‘I don’t know, Clark. I think it’s exactly what it looks like. I think you took over Clark Kent’s life, and kept him here as a trophy, because you couldn’t quite bring yourself to kill him. I think you’re a dangerous person, who has delusions of godhood. I think I’m here to fix things and put them back where they belong.’

Lex opened his briefcase, and took out a crystal. It glowed with a pink light – rather asinine, I thought. Pink? But pink or not, the crystal seemed to work quite powerfully. Clark tried to reach for the crystal to pull it out of Lex’s hand, but he couldn’t get close enough. The ship seemed to be making buzzing noises in earnest, now.

Lex held up the glowing crystal like an Olympic athlete carrying the Torch. He strode around the cave, his face a mask of rage, now. ‘You made of me your puppet,’ he said to the ship or Clark or the room at large. ‘You created me for a tool, and collaborated with my enemies, and watched to see how I would react, as if I were a lab experiment. Oh, yes! I know it all, and I don’t approve, and I’m here to set that right, and to set the real Clark Kent free. Break his bonds! Now!’

I felt my powers return, and I sprang free from the wall. Lex paid little attention to this, however, and went on addressing the ship. ‘You made a mistake when you created me your creature, though. I have something of you inside me, and though I find that obscene, I also find it useful. I always knew there was something different about me, always I had strange thoughts, strange knowledge running through me mind. I used to think it meant I was crazy, but now I know the truth.’

‘What are you babbling about, human?’ asked Jor-El, but for once his voice was uncertain.

Lex bent down before the ship, and pressed a panel on the side. The panel slid open, and before Jor-El could react, Lex inserted the crystal... and all Hell broke loose.

I felt the bond of the crystal recede, and I struggled to Lex’s side just in time. The roof of the cave was crashing in, and, at the same moment, the ship lit up like a Christmas tree and began to rise off the floor. The ocean above us was descending on our heads in a great tidal wave. I grabbed Lex and flew through the waves toward the surface, praying I would be fast enough to save him from drowning.

 

 

I knelt beside Lex on the river bank, and breathed into his mouth, putting into practice all those lessons in CPR I’d had at school. After a few minutes he coughed up river water, and breathed on his own. His eyes opened and he looked up at me, in confusion for a moment. Then his eyes cleared and he smiled, just a little. ‘Clark,’ he said. ‘But not my Clark.’

‘You’ll be okay,’ I told him. ‘I can fly you to the hospital in Victoria in no time.’ I picked him up in my arms, but he cried out in great pain, so loudly and harshly that it scared me. I bent and put him down on the grass again. ‘What’s wrong? You weren’t hit by flying rocks or anything like that. I know that.’

‘It’s rewriting all the code,’ he whispered. ‘The crystal. It’s putting the world back the way it was, and I’m being overwritten. I’m dying.’

‘No! I won’t let you die. I won’t let you. I love you.’

‘There can’t be two of us, Clark. That can’t be. It’s not logical.’

‘I don’t care about logic,’ I insisted.

‘Look up, look around you. My world is dying, and I must die with it. I’m not sad about that at all, for I hated my life, except for one part of it. I loved you. I loved that other Clark, too. But everything I ever loved either died, or turned against me. No one can live like that, without their heart breaking in two.’

I looked around, as Lex had told me to. The horizon was misty, like glass covered by raindrops. Far off, I could hear a helicopter heading this way – but no. It wasn’t that far off, for even as I thought about it, suddenly the copter sounded much nearer. The wall of glass closed in upon us, Lex and I, as we waited on the wet grass. Lex shuddered. I took off my coat, wet as it was, and put it around him, hoping a little warmth might be in it from my body. ‘I’m okay, Clark. I’m okay. Just stay with me. Talk to me.’

I couldn’t think of a thing to say, but I forced myself to talk about anything that popped into my mind. ‘That’s a helicopter,’ I said. ‘Someone will come to rescue us.’

‘I can’t be rescued from this,’ said Lex. ‘I’m sorry. But you have him. He’s a good man, you told me. He’s strong. He won’t break, not like me. I’m breaking up inside. I’m being overwritten. Don’t forget me, Clark. Don’t forget me.’

‘I won’t. I promise.’ I held his hand, and he talked to me about some private things that had been between us that one night together. I have always held those things in my heart, and always will.

I could hear a voice calling to me from beyond the glass curtain. ‘It’s him,’ said Lex. ‘He’s coming to you, so you won’t be alone. Don’t grieve for me, but don’t forget me.’

The curtain faded and disappeared, and my Lex walked through. The other Lex was still lying in my arms, though, and I clung to a tiny hope, but he cried out with pain once more. My Lex fell to the grass beside him, and took his other hand. ‘You are a casualty of war,’ he said. ‘But you do not die in vain. I will remember you, and I will avenge you.’

The other Lex squeezed his hand. ‘Take them,’ he said. ‘Take the glove, and the case with the crystals.’ I saw in amazement that he’d been holding onto the briefcase all this time. ‘Take them. The crystals. They are important. Clark... Clark will need the data inside.’

“I want nothing to do with the crystals,’ I protested. But Lex – both Lexes ignored me. My Lex took the briefcase, and pulled off the leather glove.

‘Thank you,’ Lex whispered. He looked up at me, and smiled. ‘You made me real,’ he said. A teardrop appeared on his face, but not from his eyes. He turned and looked up at my Lex in wonder. ‘You can cry,’ he said. And then he grew clear, like river water when the silt settles.

And then he fell apart, and lay upon the grass like dew.

 

I actually felt my heart break within my chest. I had read about such things happening, but thought it was just... romantic fiction. But it happens, for real. I knew I was crying, sobbing even, and then felt warm arms come around me, comforting me, and remembered that Lex was still alive, that he hadn’t died, not really. Only his doppelganger had disappeared. I drew back and looked into Lex’s face. It was bleak and drawn with pain.

‘Lex, you are still here, still with me,’ I whispered. I stroked his face, and kissed his eyes.

‘Don’t,’ he said. ‘We must go, must follow the ship. It’s headed north. I have the crystals.’

‘Lex! This is important. The ship can wait for a moment.’

‘This can wait,’ he replied. I could feel him drawing away from me, off into his own world, cold and precise, where he waged an eternal war with himself. Not now, I thought.

‘No, it can’t. You are more important than that damned ship to me... don’t look like that. I had the same argument with him, last night.’

‘You love him, don’t you?’ Lex asked.

‘Yes. I love him -- I love you. You’re the same person. The same man. He’s gone, and you are still alive, but it hurt. It hurt to watch him vanish, like smoke or something. As if he’d never lived. But he did live. He was real. He was alive and breathing, and I held him in my arms. He sacrificed himself for us.’

‘Yes, that must be acknowledged. I won’t forget it. I promised him that.’

‘Then we understand each other? I loved him because I love you. Don’t pull away from me.’

Lex studied my face for a moment, in silence. ‘He trusted you more, didn’t he? He needed you more. That’s why you loved him. I don’t think I can be like him, Clark. I don’t know if I could have trusted you so much. I don’t know if I could have sacrificed myself as he did. Perhaps it’s too bad he was the one to die.’

‘No! Lex, he told me himself he was too badly damaged to survive. He told me something was broken inside, too badly to heal. You are stronger, that’s why you survived, and he didn’t. He sacrificed himself for us, because you are stronger.’  
He was silent again, for a long moment, gazing into some private place inside his soul. Then he said, ‘The survival of the fittest?’

‘No. Not like that. He knew that you had been damaged less – by life, by the world, by Lionel. And so you were the best one to go on. He might have needed me more, but maybe I need you more.’

Lex raised his head, and looked right into my eyes. His eyes were lighter now, less filled with pain. Oh, yes. I had found the right argument. ‘We should go now. The ship was heading north. I can track it, with the crystals. We have to deal with it, before it causes more damage.’

‘I thought that was over,’ I said.

‘Only temporarily. We have to fix it permanently. I’ll have one of my crews follow us in a plane. Let me talk to Mercy.’ Lex got on his cell, and started issuing orders as he walked toward the helicopter. Mercy stepped down out of the copter, looking sleek and loaded for bear. She was dressed in black leather, and her face looked carved from ice. She tossed me a bit of a cold glance, but she nodded to Lex and got back in the copter. It took off toward the castle. Lex came back to my side. ‘I wish...’ he said. ‘But no. A plane would be too slow, and we need to deal with the ship now. Come on. Let’s fly.’

 

************************

 

I insisted on making a fast trip to the Castle to pick up warmer clothes for Lex -- he, of course, complaining all the time, and insisting on his supreme masculinity, and ability to survive temperatures typical of the dark side of the Moon.

‘Shut up!’ I explained. I zipped to his bedroom, dumped Lex on the bed, grabbled a parka out of his closet that he’d bought for a planned visit to Newfoundland to show off Joy to her family, searched for gloves, boots, and a scarf, tossed them at Lex, and proclaimed, ‘Hurry up, can’t you? We’re on a tight schedule here,’ in the arrogant tones I’d heard from Lex himself on more than one occasion.

Lex ventured a smile, and seemed to relax slightly. He dressed faster than I’d ever seen him dress in his life, and said, ‘Ready when you are.’

‘Good. For God’s sake, Lex, what good would you have been to me frozen solid?’ Then I picked him up and flew back out of the Castle, before he could come up with another wild assertion of Luthor superiority to the cold. We headed North, toward the Arctic Circle.

In the Arctic, all roads lead to the North Pole. I flew over British Columbia. The Yukon. The Beaufort Sea. The Canada Basin. Lex had one of the Crystals held in his hand, and as we journeyed North, I saw the crystal begin to glow. The glow grew more powerful, the further North we got. Lex kept issuing orders: ‘Faster. Bank left here. Further. Bank right.’ It was irritating, but the thing was, Lex was right. I could feel an awareness gathering inside myself. The knowledge that the ship was near.

And then, almost at the Pole, I saw it. It sat upon the ice, looking abandoned and innocuous, like a child’s toy in the middle of a vast wilderness. Benign, even, like a refuge in the storm. I knew it was nothing of the sort, but even I felt its attraction. This was of Krypton, a voice inside me kept insisting. I set Lex down in the snow, and turned to the ship, intent on annihilating it forever.

Lex grabbed my arm. ‘We need to deal with it,’ he told me. ‘Not destroy it.’

‘What are you saying? That monstrous thing tried to destroy our lives. It tried to make me into a monster. Someone who would betray his friend, and become the friend of murderers and child abusers. Lex, that thing is evil.’

Lex stood there, looking from my face to the ship, back and forth, actually weighing the pros and cons of my suggestion. ‘It’s a thing, Clark,’ he said. ‘How can it be evil? It has its uses, and its abuses. If we destroy it, we will avert the latter, but be unable to avail ourselves of the former.’

‘So what?’ I shouted. I still ached with the pain of watching Lex die, even though Lex was standing there beside me, arguing with me. All I wanted to do was blow the contraption up, and be done with it.

‘We don’t know what is in the future,’ Lex insisted. ‘This is the only link to your home world. This ship, and the crystals. Are there more people from your planet, out there in the cosmos? We don’t know. Clark, a machine cannot be evil.’

‘This one did evil things.’

‘Yes, so it was programmed wrong, and must be fixed.’

‘How? How can we fix it?’

‘He... the other Lex... he had some knowledge of the ship because he was made by it. He passed some of that knowledge on to me, when we touched. But... not enough. I’m not sure exactly what to do now, but we must try.’

For the first time Lex sounded uncertain, and it enraged me. I grabbed one of the crystals from his hand, and threw it, as hard as I could. It tumbled, end over end, and then fell to the ground – to the ice rather. It seemed to sink into the ice, but then rose again, spire upon spire of crystal, and the crystals grew, until a great Fortress of Ice formed before our eyes.

The sun was setting, after making its brief appearance in celebration of the beginning of winter. Its last rays struck the crystal fortress, and set it sparkling. A door opened in one massive side of the building, and a voice called to me. ‘Welcome, Kal-El. Come in and learn your heritage.’

‘Only if my lover can join me, and be safe,’ I replied.

‘Lex Luthor may join us, for he is the Finder of the Crystals. Welcome, Lex Luthor. Come in from the cold.’

I wasn’t sure I trusted this Kryptonian device any more than the first, but the sun was rapidly sinking below the horizon. The Fortress was glowing with captured light. Lex was wearing a warm parka, but soon the temperature would be below what even he could bear. And, when I turned to him, I could see the fascination in his face. ‘Okay,’ I said to the Fortress. ‘But behave yourself, or I’ll melt you down to the permafrost.’

 

I squared my shoulders, and took Lex’s hand firmly in my own. Whoever, or whatever, we found inside the Fortress, it would not separate me from Lex without a fight. Then, with all my senses on alert for any sign of trouble, I marched inside the castle of ice, Lex at my side.

I was listening for any threatening sound, watching out for any attack. And so attuned was I to the least sign of hostility, that I missed someone entering the room to greet us, until Lex said, ‘Lara.’

It was indeed my mother – or, rather, the hologram of my mother. At the sight of her, my anger finally had a recognizable target, and I let fly. ‘You! Has all this been a plot against us? What next? Torture? Why not rip Lex’s beating heart out and offer it to me on a platter?’

‘Clark!’

‘No, Lex. Let me say my piece. Our parents played with our lives, with our hearts, with our very souls. All of them. Your father tormented you – but your mother used you, raised you with an agenda, too. I know you loved her, but it’s true. And my parents! What kind of muddled plot was all this, anyway? I want answers.’

‘I will give you answers, Kal-El,’ said Lara. ‘But first let me make all safe and secure. I must bring the ship inside.’

‘No! I don’t trust it anywhere near Lex.’ Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lex raise his head arrogantly, ready to declare his ability to deal with any number of homicidal alien devices. But Lara smiled.

‘Once we have the ship here, inside my territory, we can deal with it,’ she said.

Okay, so that was tactful, I thought – “We”. We will deal with it.

The side of the Fortress opened wide, and the ship sailed inside. Calm. No sign of hostility... until the cockpit opened, and my double stepped out.

‘So, we’ve been kidnapped,’ he managed to spew out, before I flew at him, with every intention of tearing him to pieces, ignoring Lex’s cry of protest. I grabbed the false Clark by the throat and threw him against the crystal walls of the Fortress. The false Clark shattered into millions of shards, and I felt glad, until the shards reformed, and the bastard stood before me once more.

‘You can’t kill me that easily,’ he laughed.

‘As long as I can kill you at all, I’m ready to try every method until I hit on the right one,’ I snarled. ‘Why should you be alive, when he’s dead?’

‘He?’

‘Lex Luthor. He died when the alternate universe was stopped in its tracks. He saved the world from you, at the cost of his own life. And you’re still walking around? How fair is that?’

‘Lex Luthor is standing behind you, isn’t he?’ The fake Clark sounded genuinely mystified.

‘Yes, he is. But the Lex from your horrible version of reality just died a few minutes ago.’

‘‘You want to be the meat in a Lex sandwich, Bro?’

‘That would be better than what just happened – watching him die, and then finding you alive.’

‘Clark.’ Lex gripped my arm, gently. ‘I wouldn’t want to watch you die, either. Even this version of you.’

I hadn’t thought of that, which shows how selfish I can be, at times. Lex had just watched himself die, and now I was threatening to kill myself before his eyes. It made my head spin.

‘Why don’t you all sit down,’ Lara suggested. I turned around, and the icy room had been redecorated. Rich hangings covered the walls. A warm fire burned in a central fire pit, surrounded by couches and easy chairs. ‘Have something to eat,’ she went on. A table, laden with food and drink appeared. ‘It is replicated food, but nutritious enough. Let me know if the taste is genuine, or could use improvement. And when we have dined, I will answer your questions and concerns. Kal-El, I am not at all sure that you could kill your double, for he was created from pure energy.’

‘The other Lex died,’ I protested yet again.

‘He sacrificed himself. He no longer wished to live, and believed in the rightness of his sacrifice, so he was happy.’

‘I don’t want to die,’ said the other Clark.

‘Of course you don’t,’ I replied. ‘You want to strut around, pretending to be a hero, and using people like disposable....’

‘Please, children,’ Lara interrupted. ‘Peace, for a few moments, I beg of you. Sit. Have something to eat, and let us talk reasonably.’

I sat beside Lex. The other Clark chose a chair as far from us as possible. We tried the food, which was passable. After a while, Lara began to talk.  
She explained that years ago, she and Jor-El, my father, had planned to escape their life on Krypton, which was being torn apart by civil war. But gradually Jor-El had grown more and more paranoid about being spied upon, and his trust of her had diminished. ‘He began to leave me out of his plans,’ she said. ‘He changed, and after a while, I scarcely knew him. But still, we were planning to leave Krypton together. Then you were born, Kal-El, and he became obsessed with making you the conqueror of Earth. Don’t ask me why, for I know not. I made my own plans, to protect you from Jor-El and his plot.’

‘Why didn’t you let us in on your plans, Mother?’ I asked.

‘Because I had to hide my plans from my husband, your father, the madman,’ she replied. ‘I had to hide the crystals all over Earth, so he wouldn’t know what I was up to. He knew I was plotting, but not what I was plotting. If you had found the crystals yourself, Kal-El, your father would have learned my plans and all would be lost. But it was Lex who found them, and Lex who defeated the ship. Now I have the power to fix what was damaged, and I have created for you a safe refuge.’

Now Lex spoke up. ‘So, before you were forced to ride along on the ship’s coattails, so to speak?’

‘Yes, and I had little power of my own, because the crystals were dispersed. But you found them, and put them together, and now I am whole, united. I can handle the ship, for my power is greater than his.’

‘What about me?’ asked the other Clark.

I looked at Lex. His face was like ice, cold and distant. I turned back to Lara. ‘Can he do any damage on his own? Can he operate on his own now, without the power of the ship?’

‘No,’ said Lara. ‘His power is less than that of the ship, so I can control him, too.’

‘Then I will let him live. But if he causes any trouble, I won’t rest until I’ve destroyed him, pure energy or not.’

‘How kind of you,’ he said.

‘Shut up. Traitor. I’m only letting you go now because Lex asked me. You owe your life to him.’

‘He’ll betray you,’ said the false Clark. ‘He’ll use you, and he’ll betray you.’

‘And if he does, then it will be my fault. If I’m such a bad friend that I turn him against me, I’ll deserve anything he dishes out.’

The false Clark shook his head. ‘You’re just his bitch,’ he said.

‘That’s like you,’ I said. ‘To look at it that way.’

‘Begone,’ Lara said. She waved her hand, and the false Clark disappeared. ‘Into the woodwork,’ she explained. ‘He’s not truly gone, it’s just that we can’t see or hear him.’

‘Like a cockroach?’ I suggested. ‘He’s evil. So is the ship. They should be destroyed.’

‘You can never destroy evil, my son. For whatever reason, it will always be there, in the universe. As a response to pain. As a lesson for the young of what not to be. As a pattern for the good to react against and avoid. For whatever reason, evil will always be there, in the universe.’

‘So, I must accept it?’

‘Or tear yourself apart, yes. But you can also work to mitigate the effects of evil. You can be a hero. Someone who fights evil, though he can never actually destroy it. Someone who never despairs. Someone who is willing to spare the lives of those who harm him.’

I sighed. ‘Yes, I can be all those things,’ I said, at last.

‘Good,’ said Lara. ‘Stay for dinner?’

And eat in that room with the false Clark crawling around in the woodwork like a cockroach? I got to my feet, trying hard to look reluctant. ‘We should get back to Echo Valley, shouldn’t we, Lex?’

‘Yes,’ Lex replied, instantly. ‘The effects of the ship hadn’t spread far, but they have burrowed in deep. We should get back home, and deal with that, if you’re sure you can handle Jor-El and... him.’

Lara took Lex’s hand, and pressed it, gently. ‘You will be strong enough,’ she said. ‘And when you are finished, return here, with Kal-El. The crystals hold much knowledge, garnered from every corner of the universe. Avail yourselves of that, when you have the time.’

‘We will,’ said Lex. And with a look of reluctance, he turned to me, and we left for home, and the chaos that awaited us there.

 

Epilogue

***************

 

Echo Valley was like a kicked anthill when the queen has just been stepped on. There were even a few reporters present, from Nanaimo. I expected more reporters to appear at any moment, drawn to the scene like sharks to a dead whale. In the meantime, almost all the local citizens had their video cameras or phone cameras out, and a lot of the footage would being going viral on the internet at any moment. I took a step back, ready to flee given the least chance.

Lex didn’t give me that chance. ‘Lift your head,’ he commanded, following his own advice instantly. His voice was pitched just for my ears, not loudly enough to be picked up by any microphones in existence. ‘Look directly into the camera if it points at you. Don’t smile. Under these circumstances that isn’t appropriate. Look concerned, but under control.’ While I was trying to put his advice into action, Lex stepped forward, directly into the line of fire, so to speak. Terrified that someone might literally take a shot at him, I followed.

Some people looked at us with relief, others with horror. Still others were angry and threatening. Lex looked around, saw a large boulder pushed south during the last ice age, and not taken home by the retreating glacier. He leapt up onto it, raised his hands and his voice and addressed the crowd.

‘I know what has happened,’ said Lex. ‘Please be calm. The crisis is almost over.’

An incoherent chorus rose up in answer. Pleading, confused, angry—more threats. I stepped up on the rock beside him. No way was I going to let him face a mob alone. ‘You know me,’ I shouted. ‘Most of you know me.’

‘It’s the Kent boy,’ said someone in the crowd. ‘But he looks different... somehow.’

‘I know, but listen to Lex. He knows all about what happened.’ I prayed that Lex could explain all this in a coherent fashion, without scaring everyone into a panic.

In the meantime, a circle of protectors had gathered around us. Gina. Mercy. A tall Black woman with long dreads. Several other people I recognized as Meteor Mutants. Lana was not among them.

‘Everything is under control now,’ Lex insisted. ‘We know that something strange happened here.’

‘Strange things always happen here,’ a voice shouted from the crowd. ‘But lately things got really strange. It was like I was living a different life. One day I knew what was going on... and the next. Bam! One day, Clark was your best friend. Your boyfriend, even, some people thought. And the next, he was telling everyone how evil you were. We were all warned not to trust you.’

‘One day we knew all the mutants and what they could do. The next day, they were running around killing people right and left,’ said someone else.

A new chorus of complaints rose to the heavens:

‘But now! Now, suddenly we’re back the way things were.’

‘But I still remember what happened. It’s like I was two different people.’

‘You were, for a while,’ said Lex. ‘Everything you remember really happened. You didn’t imagine it. But everything is back the way it was.’

‘And how did this happen?’ someone asked.

‘It was the meteors,’ Lex declared. ‘Clark Kent suspected there was a hidden store of them under the river, and so there was. Unfortunately, by the time we found them, they had begun to create a mutation of reality itself. It was dangerous to find them and deal with them, but we did so. The rocks have been disposed of, and all has been returned to normal. The mutants of this valley are true heroes.’

Well, that was close enough to the truth, I thought. Best not to mention alien space ships, and create real panic. Lex’s shoulder pressed against mine, and it was then I first felt it. It was then I first knew that as long as we stood side by side like this, no one could defeat us.

***The End***


End file.
